Oceanside moves closer to E-Verify requirement

By Aaron Burgin, UNION-TRIBUNE
Friday, April 8, 2011 at 8:39 p.m.

OCEANSIDE — Businesses looking to do business with the city of Oceanside will soon be required to use E-Verify, the City Council decided this week.

The council voted 3-1 to prepare a resolution that would require contractors to use the U.S. Homeland Security system that verifies the legal residency status of employees. Councilwoman Esther Sanchez voted against the measure, which was proposed by Councilman Gary Felien. Mayor Jim Wood left the meeting prior to the vote, but signaled he would support Felien’s request.

The ciity attorney will draft the resolution, which the council will vote for at future meeting.

According to the Department of Homeland Security website, E-Verify is a free Internet-based system available to all employers.

The use of E-Verify has sparked controversy in other cities and municpalities where officials have mandated that all businesses — not just those looking for government contracts — use the system to verify their employees’ residency status. Felien, however, said he was not interested in “doing the federal government’s job.â€